He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Volume 1 & 2

Great Volumes at a Great Price

TV Show

Bonus Features

Main Plot Points:

Join forces with He-Man and the powerful Masters of the Universe and go up against the evil forces of Skeletor to save the planet Eternia and to protect the secrets of Castle Grayskull. To stop Skeletor’s evil plot to conquer the universe, He-Man, under the guidance of the mystical Sorceress, must use his superhuman power to wage an epic battle against the evil warlord and his army of henchman.

Explore Prince Adam’s formative years as the warrior He-Man and his earliest entanglements with the evil Skeletor, who’s determined to destroy Eternia and take over the planet in these first 20 adventurous episodes. Since he’s only recently discovered his new abilities, Prince Adam is still learning how to use them. But with help from the Masters of the Universe, he’ll harness the power to protect Castle Grayskull.

Mighty warrior He-Man — who’s actually a prince in his everyday life — guards the secrets of Castle Grayskull from evil Skeletor and his minions in this second 20-episode installment from the classic animated series’ first season. Whenever danger threatens the Palace of Eternia, mild-mannered Prince Adam and his skittish tiger, Cringer, transform into muscle-bound He-Man and feisty Battlecat.

What We Thought:

I was a big fan of He-Man as a kid and I was a bit nervous watching it for the first time as an adult. After watching He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Volume 1 & 2, I can see why I liked it as a kid, but does it hold up?

Honestly, it doesn’t really matter. Sure watching it now it’s very formulaic and reminds me of every other cartoon I watched back then. It’s extremely similar to Thundercats. There’s a cool sword, a bad guy with henchmen, the team to support the leader, a cool place to live, cool vehicles and the good guys always win.

As an adult you realize the only difference between Prince Adam and He-Man is a shirt. That’s it. His hair is the same. His build is the same. His voice is deeper, but his appearance is the same just minus a shirt. At least Clark Kent confused people with a pair of glasses.

Again, as an adult, you realize, every episode is pretty much the same thing. Skeletor comes up with a plan, Prince Adam “disappears”, He-Man “appears”, Beast Man usually ends up in mud, the day is saved. It’s like Voltron, you watch it as an adult and you wonder why they ever fought as the lions, just form Voltron, use the sword, battle over.

But again, none of that matters. These 2 DVD sets are just plain awesome for a trip down memory lane. You get 80 episodes between the 2 boxes and I surprisingly remembered a good bunch of them. Plus I had forgotten about Faker He-Man so that was a good reminder.

For people like myself who grew up on the show (and the toys!), He-Man and the Masters of the Universe Volume 1 & 2 are a great addition to your DVD library. There are other sets out there with all the episodes, but these are way cheaper and I don’t feel like you’re missing out too much. They are a great watch with your kids too. The only negative is it reminds me of all my toys that got thrown out especially my Castle Grayskull.